A connector, as disclosed in JP-A-2004-055236, is usually used for connecting a harness and an electrical device.
FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B hereof each show an arrangement of the disclosed connector, designated at 100, including a male member 101 and a female member 104. FIG. 9A shows the connector 100 before the male member 101 is coupled to the female member 104. FIG. 9B shows the connector 100 with the male member 101 coupled to the female member 104.
The male member 101 has a resiliently deformable engagement piece 102 at an outer surface thereof. The engagement piece 102 has an outward projecting portion 103 formed at a distal end portion thereof.
The female member 104 has an engagement hole 105 formed in an outer surface thereof. The female member 104 has an open end portion having a sloped guide 106 formed at an inner surface thereof.
When the male member 101 is pushed into the female member 104, the projecting portion 103 of the male member 101 is depressed by the guide 106. The projecting portion 103 is then aligned with the engagement hole 105. Upon alignment with the engagement hole 105, the projecting portion 103 enters into the engagement hole 105 by its own resiliency. When the projecting portion 103 engages the engagement hole 105, coupling of the male member 101 and the female member 104 is complete.
In completing the coupling of the male member 101 and the female member 104, therefore, it is important to confirm that the projecting portion 103 engages the engagement hole 105. If such a confirmation is not neglected, the connector 100 would be used with insufficient engagement made between the projecting portion 103 and the engagement hole 105. If so, there is concern that the male member 101 is released from the female member 104 during use of the connector 100.
Conventionally, the engagement of the projecting portion 103 with the engagement hole 105 has been confirmed by confirming that sound is produced upon entry of the projecting portion 103 into the engagement hole 105 or by pulling both the male member 101 and the female member 104 in opposite directions away from each other.
However, the sound is difficult to distinguish from surrounding noise. Moreover, whether or not the production of the sound can be confirmed depends upon a sense of hearing of a user. Thus, the confirmation of the production of the sound provides less reliability. The pulling of the male member 101 and the female member 104 is not preferable because the pulling would cause mechanical damage to the male member 101 and the female member 104 or break harnesses.
There is desired an improved connector arranged such that coupling of a male member and a female member can be confirmed by a manner other than the confirmation of the production of the sound or the pulling operation.